Tony jumped out of bed, wide-awake at 5 AM sharp, the time drilled into his had his gun already pointed at the door, finger on the trigger. Ever since that traumatic day, he taught himself to wake up at 5 AM on school days and 3 AM on weekends, regardless of when he went to bed. He quickly got dressed in an Under Armour T-Shirt, athletic shorts, and running shoes before going downstairs to get an energy bar and a bottle of water. Today was the first day day of school of the week, and he'd be damned if he was tired for even a second of the day unless it was time to sleep.
Ziva woke up at 5 AM and quietly went to her closet to retrieve her running gear. She slipped on a Nike T-Shirt and form-fitting athletic shorts, and went downstairs. Gibbs was already downstairs making coffee. "Sorry Ziva, did I wake you up?" Gibbs inquired, feeling slightly guilty. "No you didn't Gibbs, I always go on a run at five." Ziva replied. "Ok, just be sure you're back home in time for school." Gibbs replied. "I will!" Ziva shouted as she walked out of her front door. As she closed her front door, a thought struck her. I don't even know this neighborhood! How am I supposed to plan out a good route? It was at that moment that Anthony walked out of his own front door, wearing running clothes and shoes, chewing on an energy bar and carrying a small backpack. "Man does he look good in that shirt..." she ogled as she unconsciously walked down to the street. Before she knew it, she was standing in front of said man, who was giving her a suspicious look.
Immediately Ziva started looking for an excuse, "Hi my name is Ziva! I think we're going to the same school and we're in the same grade? I just came from Israel yesterday." Ziva introduced herself as she stuck out her hand. Tony just stared at her hand for a couple seconds before taking it in his own, giving it a firm shake. He looked her in the eye as he introduced himself, "Anthony DiNozzo." Ziva just stared at him while she was trying to remember what she wanted to say. "Oh sorry, I was going to go out running but I don't know any good routes. Can I run with you?" Ziva asked in a friendly manner. Tony took a few seconds to contemplate her answer before giving a simple nod and indicating with his finger to follow him.
Ziva had always been good at running, running over six miles a day from Mossad training. So it was a surprise to her to see Tony move at the same pace as her, even going slightly faster on occasion before he realized he wasn't running alone and slowed down, much to her disdain. She had always been the best runner and had the best stamina out of anyone she trained along with at Mossad. After about twenty minutes running, a few droplets were starting to make their way onto her face, while Tony's was dry as a desert, not having expended a drop of sweat from his body. She had been so intrigued by this teenage boy that she wanted to learn all about him, so why not start now?
"Wow, where did you become such a good runner?" Ziva asked, trying to make conversation. After giving a moment of hesitation, he replied quickly, "I should be asking you the same, Ziva. Most girls I've met would've stopped and went home two miles ago. To answer your question I do certain...training. You?"
"I train under Mossad, so I run pretty much every day." Ziva replied, pleased with Tony's answer. "What kind of training do you do?" Ziva asked, prodding for answers. Immediately at the question Tony's shoulders stiffened, an action which did not go unnoticed by Ziva. Tony decided to be vague, not wanting to talk about it, "Just training." he replied blankly, signaling the end of the discussion. Soon they were a mile away from their respective houses, something Tony pointed out. Ziva decided that she wanted to test Tony, so she took off in a full on sprint, passing Tony quickly. Deciding that it had been a long time since he had some form on competition, he took off after her, and seconds later he was head to head with her, still not moving at his full speed.
To tease her, he decided to start backpedaling, and that infuriated Ziva. She urged her body to move quicker, but couldn't. After they were about a quarter mile away from their neighborhood, Tony quickly scooped up Ziva in her arms, throwing her over her shoulder fireman style. "Hey! Put me down!" Ziva shouted trying to contain her laughter. Tony ignored her as he went at a full on sprint, unfazed by the added weight on his shoulder. She was giggling the whole way as she had a perfect view of his ass. As they arrived at her house, Ari and Tali were already standing outside playing with the dog, Anthony. Immediately the dog stilled, then took off after Tony. Tony quickly put Ziva down, but not before Ari and Tali could see Tony put her down, and she was actually giggling! Quietly Tony went down on his knees, a small smile gracing his face as the dog jumped on top of him, sending him to the ground. Ziva, Ari, and Tali all bursted into laughter as the dog rapidly began licking Tony's face, tail wagging at the rate of a machine gun! After about twenty seconds, Tony picked up the dog in his arms and cradled it like a baby, much to everyone's surprise. One, the dog was huge and two, the mysterious Tony was starting to show a friendly side of himself, despite Abby's description.
Within seconds, the dog was sound asleep, shell-shocking everyone. The only thought going through their minds was how the hell he did that!? Wordlessly, Tony went up to Gibbs's house and knocked on the door, still cradling the dog in one arm. A few moments later, Jenny opened the door, already talking. "Ziva! Wow that was a quick..." Jenny trailed off at the sight of the dog sound asleep in Tony's arms who was cradling it like a baby. "Hi Tony, this is...unexpected." Jenny said, obviously shocked. Wordlessly, Tony walked inside and set the dog down on the couch, and walked out, giving Jenny a slight nod and a slight smile as he walked out. As Tony walked out he came up to Ziva who was still shocked at what had just happened. He waved his hand in front of her, snapping her out of her trance. "Tomorrow?" Tony asked, a grin on his face. Ziva just nodded, unable to form words. Tony then ran back into his house and shut the door.
Ari and Tali gave each other a quick glance, silently communicating that they definitely needed to talk to her about what had just happened. They both walked up to Ziva who was still staring after Tony. They could both tell she liked the mysterious Anthony DiNozzo, but never had they ever seen her so entranced by someone before, and they definitely have never seen her giggle.
"So you met the mysterious man that is Anthony DiNozzo?" Tali asked, mentally smirking to herself that Ziva was STILL staring at Tony's front door. Ari waved his hand in front of Ziva, snapping her out of her second trance that morning. She blinked a couple times before she realized what she was doing, and turned a deep shade of red, avoiding their gazes as she looked at the ground for a moment, then back at Tali. "Did you say something, Tali?" Ziva asked. Both Ari and Tali were on the verge on laughter seeing her blush like that. "Wow! This mysterious Anthony DiNozzo brought out three things out of Ziva that we've never seen before, all in a matter of minutes!" both Ari and Tali mentally screamed at themselves, trying desperately to contain their laughter. "I asked you if you met the mysterious Anthony DiNozzo, but obviously you have." Tali replied, which brought upon an even deeper shade of red in Ziva's face. "Yes, I went on a morning run with him." Ziva replied quickly, desperately trying to contain the blush on her face.
Ari decided he would try to embarrass her little sister further so he asked, "Ziva! My god are you blushing?" Ari asked incredulously. Immediately Ziva's face went on an even deeper shade of red, something neither Ari or Tali thought was possible as Ziva quickly stammered, "I-uh-um no! I am just flustered from my run, that is all!" Ziva replied nervously. Easily seeing through her cover story but deciding to leave her be, Tali and Ari both just gave a nod and then walked back inside, a still-blushing Ziva not far behind. The three of them walked into the kitchen to be greeted by Gibbs, Jenny, and Abby. Immediately Abby started bombarding Ziva with questions. "Hi Ziva how as your run? Is it true you ran with Tony? Did he really cradle Anthony to sleep?" Ziva took a moment to take in all her questions before replying, "Good morning to you too Abby!" Ziva said happily, still not having gotten over Tony asking her to run with her tomorrow. "The run was very good and yes I did meet Tony, and YES Tony did cradle Anthony to sleep. Do you know how he did that, Jenny?" Ziva responded.
Gibbs and Jenny were still slightly shocked to not only have gone a run with Ziva, but to have cradled Anthony to sleep. "No I do not. For some reason Anthony has a very strong bond with Tony for some reason, but we could never figure out what it was. We've had Anthony since his birth so it wasn't as if Tony ever had ownership of the dog. It's just something we've come to accept..." Jenny trailed off. All of them stood in an awkward silence before Ziva announced that she would start getting ready for school, then bolted up the stairs. Abby just smirked to herself as she went back to eating her eggs, having seen Tony carry Ziva the whole way back to the house. Gibbs and Jenny just shrugged their shoulders, going back to making bacon, while Ari and Tali were smiling to themselves at how Ziva was so obviously entranced by Tony DiNozzo.
Ziva stripped down and stepped into the shower, still smiling to herself that Tony had asked her to run with him again, which she would gladly take him up on. Tony DiNozzo, the supposedly cold-hearted High-Schooler, was starting to grow onto her. There was just an air of mysteriousness that hung around him, but she could also sense that underneath his coldness and emotionless personality, the real him still existed, whatever that was. She was convinced something terrible happened to him over summer break, and she was determined to find out what it was. And maybe ogle at him a bit while she did so.
Tony walked into his house, smiling to himself from his run with the new girl, Ziva. She was very intriguing, not to mention beautiful, hot, and sexy. It has been years since he thought of someone like that, not since that day. He definitely wanted to get to know more about Ziva, there was something about her that really intrigued him, and he looked forward to seeing her in school today. He smirked as he saw Chris making pancakes from the batter he made last night, still wearing that ridiculous apron. Apparently it was his 'lucky' apron, and he made his best food when he wore it. As unbelievable as it was, he couldn't argue with his logic. He was an amazing cook and made the best food he had ever had, but one time he left it in the dryer and tried to bake cookies in the oven, and boy was there a lot of fire. We threw it in the fireplace, and those cookies burned on for hours!
"Ah Tony! Good to see you, how was your run?" Chris greeted. "It was good Chris, I ran with one of the neighbors today, she just came here last night; she's from Israel." Tony replied, a smile gracing his face. Chris nearly dropped the piece of toast he was eating. Tony had NEVER run with anyone else before, never. He said that it helped him get his mind off of that day, and he always went alone. Immediately Chris became curious, especially hearing that this new neighbor was a she. "Glad to hear that Tony! You've never ran with anyone else before, what changed that?" Chris asked, hoping that Tony was finally seeing someone after so long. "I don't know Chris, It's just that she's new here and she doesn't know any routes, so I let her come with me." Tony replied, smiling as he remembered that moment. Chris noticed this and mentally smirked, knowing what Tony was thinking, but choosing not to pursue it. "That's good Tony. What's her name, and does she go to your school?" Chris inquired, trying to pry information about this mystery woman.
"Oh yeah, her name's Ziva. She's actually a really good runner, kept up with me the entire way. I think she mentioned something about being trained by Mossad or something?" Tony replied. Chris pondered this for a second, then it came to him. He remembered reading a dossier on Eli David, the Director of Mossad, and in it mentioned that he had a daughter named Ziva David, who was currently undergoing Mossad training. "Wow," Chris thought to himself, "Haha! Man Tony's in some pretty deep shit, running with a daughter of the Director of Mossad! Never new my poor nephew had it in him! Man God be with him!"
"Alright well I'm gonna go get washed up and then get dressed. I had an energy bar this morning so don't worry about making breakfast!" Tony shouted as he bolted up the stairs. Chris chuckled to himself as he went back to making pancakes. He put out a Styrofoam carry-out box and put some scrambled eggs in it, placing a plastic fork on top as he closed the box. Ten minutes later Tony came downstairs, lugging his backpack with him as he made his way to the front door. "Hey! Take this with you, eat it in the bus! Have to keep your energy up." Chris shouted from the kitchen. Tony quickly thanked him as he took the eggs and walked out the front door, smiling to himself as he saw Abby, one of his best friends walk out with Ziva and two other Israeli's who he could only perceive as her siblings. "Yup, today's gonna be a good day." Tony thought to himself as he ran over to join them on the walk to the bus stop.